Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Random weirdness

Today was a weird day for people, for some reason.

A lady came over to the desk to thank me for helping her with her paper. I didn't remember her, but I remembered the subject, and how hard I had to look to find something for her. She said she got a 96 percent on her paper! Go me!

We, like every other library on earth, have a limited number of Internet computers, which means that sometimes people have to wait. What kills me -- KILLS me -- are the people who stand around staring longingly at the computers while surrounded by thousands of books on every subject. Grab one and sit down!

So I saw a lady doing this, standing and staring, for quite a while. I assumed that she had signed in and was waiting for a computer to open up. So I worked and sort of watched her for a while, wondering if she was going to go read something or just stand there, and I notice an open computer. Then I see a kid go up to the circ desk and get a pass. He sits at an empty station and starts typing away. The lady sees him, too... THEN goes to the desk to ask for a pass. Why not just ask in the first place?

A kid about 11 years old asks me for books on how to speak Russian. I looked some up, but alas, they were all checked out. He didn't want to place a hold. However, he asked me if there were any books on how to speak Canadian!

I explained that Canadians speak English, but a lot of them also speak French. Did he want a book about French? He did! We did have books on learning French. We found three for him to take home.